Jon Hamm and Eiza Gonzalez: Meet Baby Driver’s Bonnie and Clyde

July 11, 2017
Take a ride with the bad and the beautiful as we chat to Baby Driver's sexy and dangerous outlaw couple.

What’s been special about working with Edgar Wright? What was your knowledge about him beforehand, and how was it working with him?

Jon Hamm: Edgar has been a friend for a long time, and I’ve known his work since I literally stumbled into a theatre with a friend of mine to see Shaun of the Dead. I was like, “I heard this movie’s good, let’s go see it.” And I was quite literally blown away. It really stuck with me forever. And I was just like, “Well, this guy has a talent.” And then I saw all of his other films, and I was like, “Oh, it’s not a mistake. That was not just a lucky thing that he stumbled onto.” Then I got to know him in a friendly capacity, and he asked me to read a version of this script six or seven years ago. He was like, “I really want you to be in this, I want you to be this guy.” And I said yes. And I think that there’s something to that. It’s just saying like, “Here, if you want to be with me, I’ll be with you. Let’s do it.” It’s like a relationship, you go in with eyes wide open and just say “I hope it doesn’t suck, let’s go, let’s do it.”

Eiza Gonzalez: For me the experience of working with Edgar was just so out of nowhere. I was obviously familiar with Edgar’s work, I’ve always been into film – I grew up with an older brother who was into really quirky, different sort of movies. So, when the script came, I remember my agent just saying, “There’s this amazing movie, there’s this amazing director called Edgar,” and I’m like, “Yeah, I know who he is.” And he sent me the script with a playlist. I played the tape and I realised “Oh my god, the song is involved in the lyrics and the lines,” and when I flipped the page it was over, and I was done with the script, and I was completely, absolutely in love with the project. From that day, I decided that I had to do this movie. I think the reason I got the part was because I was so in love with the project and Edgar could see it. And making the film was nothing but amazing.

 Jon, your character in this couldn’t get much further away from Don Draper [Mad Men].

Jon: Well, from a hairstyle standpoint, yeah. No, I think you’re right. It’s an interesting role. The character is really fun to play – it’s fun to be the bad guy. I’m definitely not the hero of this story. When you first meet my character and Eiza’s character, Darling, you see this kind of sweet – for criminals anyway – aspect to them. And then it turns. And when it turns, it goes bad very quickly.

Do your characters have nothing to lose and everything to gain?

Jon: Well, I think that there’s an aspect of that, and I think that they’ve chosen a career path that is fairly unsustainable, when you talk about criminal enterprise. It doesn’t really end well, ever.

Eiza: I think it also adds to the rush of the love that they have.

Jon: Absolutely, they’re addicted to something that is, again, unsustainable, and it is what it is.

Your character is very wired Jon… which drugs is he on?

Jon: Well, I think that there’s a pretty obvious reference to coke and cokeheads. Our characters are addicted to stimulants and that whole kind of mentality is, again, unsustainable. It doesn’t end well for him.

 What is your drug in personal life?

Eiza: Coffee.

Jon: Yeah, coffee.

Good answer. What was it like to work with Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx?

Jon: We had a great experience. I’ve known Kevin for some time, because of his show and my show being at the awards at the same time and blah-blah-blah. But also, he’s been doing this for a long time. Kevin knows what he’s doing. He’s an impressive person to watch, and it comes across on screen. He’s a talented guy, turns out. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with his career…

 What was your favourite song in the soundtrack?

Eiza: I think Nowhere to Run from Martha Reeves, that’s one of my favourites. I also get to sing it in the movie, so I fell in love with it. I would sing it a lot, and I would play it. That was the song I played before going into the audition, so that was kind of my love-song throughout the story.

And yours Jon?

Jon: I have a different kind of relationship to it. I like Edgar’s deep dive into these very obscure artists, but also the kind of deep dive into what we might consider very popular artists, so picking kind of interesting Queen songs or whatever. But the one that I really love is Easy by The Commodores. It’s such a beautiful song.

 Do you dance in the film?

Jon: In the film? No. In real life? Yes, I dance. I’m mostly like, a hip-hop dancer. I go to clubs and I just kind of do my thing, and then I leave. But I’ll go for like an hour and get a good workout.

Was it hard to get rid of Mad Men?

Jon: Was it hard to leave it? Yes, because it was ten years of my life, and it’s hard to move on from anything that you do for ten years, especially something that you’re critically lauded for, that’s done wonders for your career, that’s changed your life fundamentally. But there is a time for everything, and we all have to move on, and so, while it was difficult to move on, it’s also exciting and challenging.

Since Mad Men, you’ve mostly done supporting roles. Has this been a conscious choice?

Jon: I don’t know. There’s not that many leading-men roles out there, and a lot of them are taken. I’ve done my share of independent films where I’ve been able to walk down the line and get into existence, and I hope that I do more. But Mr. Damon, Mr. Affleck and Mr. Bale are doing just fine at shepherding the studios’ movies into existence. There’s this guy named Brad Pitt as well, I’m excited to see what he does next. The more success you get, the bigger pool you get into, and then you’re just competing with bigger fish.

Have fan interactions changed a lot since the dawn of social media?

Jon: Yeah. I much prefer face-to-face interactions. Number one, because people will not get shitty with you face-to-face. They might hate your work, and they might call you an asshole online, but face-to-face they’re like, “Oh my god, it’s so nice to meet you, oh my god, you’re amazing!” Online they’re like, “This guy’s a fucking dick, I hope he dies.” And you’re just like, “Wow, that’s a different experience.”

Eiza: It’s a very interesting world. At the end of the day you have to just appreciate the love of people.

Jon: I will also say this about Eiza, her ability to navigate the very tricky water of this industry is impressive. There’s a lot of darkness that comes with our world, and Eiza handles it gracefully – in two languages. I don’t engage in the social media aspect of it, though. I learned a long time ago to not read shit about me on the internet, because it’s just a way to…

Eiza: Die.

Jon: To feel shit and terrible about yourself.

Baby Driver is in cinemas from July 13, 2017.

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